Israeli cabinet meets after finalizing final details

The Israeli security cabinet is due to meet on Friday after finalizing the final details of an agreement for a truce in Gaza and the release of hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, with Washington saying it was “confident” about the start of the ceasefire on Sunday.

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Release of 33 Israeli hostages

The truce, announced Wednesday by Qatar and the United States, must take effect on Sunday if it is voted on by the Israeli government. In a first phase of six weeks, it provides for the release of 33 hostages held in the Palestinian territory, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The definitive end of the war will be negotiated during this first phase. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was informed by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached for the release of the hostages,” his office said in a statement.

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“The prime minister ordered the political and security cabinet to meet tomorrow (Friday). The government will then meet to approve the deal,” Netanyahu’s office said. He added that the families of the hostages had been informed and preparations were being made to welcome them.

Hamas warns that “any aggression, any bombardment” by Israel on Gaza endangers hostages

The leaders of the G7 countries called the agreement “important news” and called on Hamas and Israel to “ensure its full implementation and a definitive end to hostilities,” in a statement.

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The Israeli Prime Minister is assured of obtaining a majority despite opposition from far-right ministers. One of them, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, said Thursday that he would resign if the government adopted the “irresponsible” truce agreement with Hamas, without leaving the coalition around Mr. Netanyahu.

Israel said Thursday that Hamas had gone back “on certain points” of the agreement to “extort last minute concessions.” But a senior Hamas leader, Sami Abou Zouhri, rejected the accusations. The Islamist movement also warned that “any aggression, any bombing” by Israel on Gaza put the hostages in danger.

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The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, however, said he was “confident” about the entry into force of the agreement. “I expect implementation to begin, as we said, on Sunday,” he said at a farewell news conference in Washington. Egypt, which participated in mediation efforts with Qatar and the United States, called for the agreement to be implemented “without delay.”

In the Gaza Strip, where the announcement of the truce had sparked scenes of joy, Israeli strikes left 81 dead in 24 hours, the Hamas Ministry of Health said on Thursday. Civil Defense reported a “strong intensification” of the bombings, which continued throughout the day. The army said it struck around “50 targets” in 24 hours.

Acceleration of negotiations

The war, which caused a level of destruction in Gaza “unprecedented in recent history”, according to the UN, was triggered on October 7, 2023 by the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil.

This attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data. Of 251 people kidnapped, 94 are still held hostage in Gaza, 34 of whom are dead according to the army.

At least 46,788 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Israeli military campaign of retaliation in the Gaza Strip, according to data from the Hamas government’s Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.

Gaza truce ‘would never have happened’ without my team, says Trump

The announcement of the agreement followed an acceleration of negotiations, which had stalled for more than a year, in the run-up to Donald Trump’s return to the White House on Monday. The latter assured Thursday that the agreement would never have been concluded without the pressure exerted by him and his future administration. “We changed the course of things, and we changed it quickly, and frankly, it would be better if it was done before I was sworn in,” he added speaking on a conservative podcast.

The agreement must come into force on Sunday for a first phase including “a total ceasefire”, according to US President Joe Biden, the release of 33 hostages, including women, children and the elderly, a withdrawal Israeli densely populated areas and an increase in humanitarian aid.

Israel for its part “will release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners,” Mr. Biden said. The second phase should allow the release of the last hostages, he added.

The post-war in suspense

The third and final stage must be devoted to the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of the bodies of hostages who died in captivity. During the first phase, the modalities of the second phase will be negotiated, namely “a definitive end to the war”, according to the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al-Thani. Already undermined by an Israeli blockade imposed since 2007, poverty and unemployment, the besieged Gaza Strip has been ravaged by war and almost all of its 2.4 million residents have been displaced.

The ceasefire leaves in suspense the political future of Gaza, where Hamas seized power in 2007. Shelled for 15 months by the Israeli army, the Islamist movement appears very diminished but still far from being destroyed, contrary to the objective set by Benjamin Netanyahu.